A band of tornadoes cut through Indiana on Saturday night, killing at least seven people and injuring at least 125 others, authorities said. Gov. Evan Bayh declared a state of emergency and dispatched the Indiana National Guard to Bedford and Petersburg, the two hardest hit areas. The twisters were part of a storm system that stretched from the Great Lakes region to Texas. Dozens of homes were demolished and at least one person was killed by tornadoes in Illinois.

The Midwest's first big storm of the season blew in Monday with cold and heavy snow, snarling air travel around the country and giving thousands of children a day off from school. "I used to like snow and ice skating and stuff like that, but this is crazy," John Alaniz said on a Chicago corner, a black fur hat with earflaps almost concealing his face as snow blew through the streets.

A wave of thunderstorms hurling high winds forced two airports in Illinois to suspend flights briefly. The Federal Aviation Administration suspended flights for 90 minutes from Midway and O'Hare International airports in Chicago during the afternoon when thunderstorms stretched across the state, leaving three people in Woodridge injured in a freak lightning strike. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Kankakee, Ill.

Hundreds of Continental flights were delayed because of a Texas power outage while hundreds of people at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago scrambled to salvage travel plans disrupted by an earlier storm. The temporary outage at Continental's main operations center in Houston scrambled computers handling the flow of air traffic. The airline said 300 to 400 flights across the country would be affected.

The Midwest's first big storm of the season blew in Monday with cold and heavy snow, snarling air travel around the country and giving thousands of children a day off from school. "I used to like snow and ice skating and stuff like that, but this is crazy," John Alaniz said on a Chicago corner, a black fur hat with earflaps almost concealing his face as snow blew through the streets.

Hundreds of Continental flights were delayed because of a Texas power outage while hundreds of people at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago scrambled to salvage travel plans disrupted by an earlier storm. The temporary outage at Continental's main operations center in Houston scrambled computers handling the flow of air traffic. The airline said 300 to 400 flights across the country would be affected.

The sound came first: a clarion howling that jolted residents awake in their suburban Cincinnati homes as 200 mph tornado winds and storms scoured the Midwest on Friday, killing at least seven people, injuring several dozen more and obliterating hundreds of houses. As the cyclone vortices scythed wildly in a blackened arc through the city's northern suburbs, people bolted in a panic from their beds and dashed for shelter in their basements while walls throbbed and windows exploded.

National Guardsmen were called out in Illinois and Kentucky as cleanup began Sunday in three states struck by tornadoes that injured more than 50 people and damaged or destroyed scores of homes and businesses. Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson toured Allendale and said he planned to declare the town a state disaster area today.

President Clinton, raising $500,000 for Democrats Tuesday night, delighted in defying his "enemies" and found a metaphor for his presidency in the Midwestern storm that rocked his elegant dinner. "This is the way I live every day in Washington," Clinton joked to about 70 contributors warily watching their outdoor dinner tent sway in the wind gusts. "Believe me, I found if you just keep standing up, most of the time the tent won't fall. And if the storm blows over, you won't melt.

The most powerful series of tornadoes in this area in more than two decades tore a path of death and destruction across suburbs southwest of Chicago Tuesday afternoon, killing at least 23 people and flattening 100 homes, an apartment complex, a church and a high school in a matter of minutes. Four separate tornadoes spawned by a hot, muggy storm cell touched down amid the subdivisions and cornfields in the vicinity of Joliet, about 30 miles outside Chicago.

The sound came first: a clarion howling that jolted residents awake in their suburban Cincinnati homes as 200 mph tornado winds and storms scoured the Midwest on Friday, killing at least seven people, injuring several dozen more and obliterating hundreds of houses. As the cyclone vortices scythed wildly in a blackened arc through the city's northern suburbs, people bolted in a panic from their beds and dashed for shelter in their basements while walls throbbed and windows exploded.

President Clinton, raising $500,000 for Democrats Tuesday night, delighted in defying his "enemies" and found a metaphor for his presidency in the Midwestern storm that rocked his elegant dinner. "This is the way I live every day in Washington," Clinton joked to about 70 contributors warily watching their outdoor dinner tent sway in the wind gusts. "Believe me, I found if you just keep standing up, most of the time the tent won't fall. And if the storm blows over, you won't melt.

Dazed and heartsick, Joann Eads stared absently into space Wednesday as she sat on the curb outside what only the day before had been her trim two-story townhouse on Cedar Drive. Next to her lay a bottle of blue antacid. Behind her, total devastation. "You wanna buy a house cheap?" she asked facetiously.

The most powerful series of tornadoes in this area in more than two decades tore a path of death and destruction across suburbs southwest of Chicago Tuesday afternoon, killing at least 23 people and flattening 100 homes, an apartment complex, a church and a high school in a matter of minutes. Four separate tornadoes spawned by a hot, muggy storm cell touched down amid the subdivisions and cornfields in the vicinity of Joliet, about 30 miles outside Chicago.

A band of tornadoes cut through Indiana on Saturday night, killing at least seven people and injuring at least 125 others, authorities said. Gov. Evan Bayh declared a state of emergency and dispatched the Indiana National Guard to Bedford and Petersburg, the two hardest hit areas. The twisters were part of a storm system that stretched from the Great Lakes region to Texas. Dozens of homes were demolished and at least one person was killed by tornadoes in Illinois.

A wave of thunderstorms hurling high winds forced two airports in Illinois to suspend flights briefly. The Federal Aviation Administration suspended flights for 90 minutes from Midway and O'Hare International airports in Chicago during the afternoon when thunderstorms stretched across the state, leaving three people in Woodridge injured in a freak lightning strike. The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Kankakee, Ill.

Dazed and heartsick, Joann Eads stared absently into space Wednesday as she sat on the curb outside what only the day before had been her trim two-story townhouse on Cedar Drive. Next to her lay a bottle of blue antacid. Behind her, total devastation. "You wanna buy a house cheap?" she asked facetiously.

A small Montana town protected by 50-year-old dikes was surrounded by rising water today, while flooding caused millions of dollars of damage in Illinois and severe storms and tornadoes destroyed buildings in Iowa and Wisconsin. Lightning ignited a house fire today that killed a 16-year-old girl in Michigan. In Montana, the town of Saco was surrounded by water from a swollen tributary of the rampaging Milk River.

National Guardsmen were called out in Illinois and Kentucky as cleanup began Sunday in three states struck by tornadoes that injured more than 50 people and damaged or destroyed scores of homes and businesses. Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson toured Allendale and said he planned to declare the town a state disaster area today.

A small Montana town protected by 50-year-old dikes was surrounded by rising water today, while flooding caused millions of dollars of damage in Illinois and severe storms and tornadoes destroyed buildings in Iowa and Wisconsin. Lightning ignited a house fire today that killed a 16-year-old girl in Michigan. In Montana, the town of Saco was surrounded by water from a swollen tributary of the rampaging Milk River.